A disquieting silence

A disquieting silence

Context:

• In the case of Rohingya, other than inking an “agreement” with Naypyidaw that normalcy and development would be promoted in the restive Rakhine state, government’s only public position has been to announce that it intends to send the nearly 40,000 Rohingya in India back to Myanmar.

India, Myanmar and China’s take on the issue:

• According to Minister of State for Home Affairs, Kiren Rijiju, far as India is concerned, Rohingya people are all illegal immigrants and anybody who is an illegal immigrant has to be deported.
• While India argues that it is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, which forbids a country that accepts asylum seekers from returning them to a country.
• Myanmar has neither said nor done anything to indicate that it is willing to recognise the now stateless Rohingya as citizens with basic rights, the first step to giving them a secure future.
• In terms of regional geopolitics, India has ceded the diplomatic high ground to China, never famous for welcoming refugees.
• With China taking a lead in bringing Myanmar and Bangladesh together in exploratory talks for the eventual return of the Rohingya, South Block must realise that both Dhaka and Naypyidaw are paying more attention to Beijing than they are to India.